Actuating mechanism for interest-calculating devices.



D. RAWSTRON.

AGTUATING MECHANISM FOR INTEREST CALCULATING DEVICES.

APPLIOATIQN FILED mus, 1910.

1,004, 1 99, Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. 4%; z

FROM l QJANU/TRY I FIRST --'TO v LJAN. FEB. {MAR APR. MAY JumTl F01: 7901! PRINCIPAL a: mm. .360 DAL I0 YEAB IN "ME" 7 THOUSANDS.

L :u ez 8-553 3352,58; was 108333131333 5 T dfi COLUMBIA- PLANOGRAPH CD-.WASHINGTON. D. c.

ewefm D. RAWSTRON. ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR INTEREST CALCULATING DEVICES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1910.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2;

COLUMBIA PIANOIIIAPH 00.,WA8HIN01'0N, n..c1'

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DONALD RAWSTRON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO JAMES J. FITZGERALD AND ONE-THIRD TO HENRY RAWSTRON, BOTH OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

Application filed May 5, 1910. Serial No. 559,447.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DONALD RAws'rRoN, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Chicago, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Actuating Mechanism for Interest-Calculating Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mechanism by means of which strips of material may be unwound from and rewound upon rollers, and has especial reference to the use of such mechanism in connection with interest calculating machines and the like.

A further object is the production of a device in which the strips or sheets are held tightly regardless of the amount wound on the rollers.

A further object is the production of a device of extremely simple construction, and one that will not get outof order.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by my device, embodiments of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a plan view of my device, adapted for use as an interest calculating device. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of my device with the cover removed. Fig. 3 represents a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 4 represents a side elevation of my device with a portion broken away.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings: 7 represents a box Or case having a top or cover A provided with a plurality of openings 8, 9 and 10. Mounted within the case is a frame 11, in which are journaled two pairs of rollers 12 and 12 and 13 and 13 Mounted on these rollers and adapted to be wound from one to the other are a pair of strips or rolls bearing words and figures, one (B) which I term the interest roll passing from the roller 12 to 12 and over the idlers 1212 to bring a flat section into view through the opening 10, and the other (C) that I term the month roll, passing from the roller 13 to 13 and over the idlers 13-13 -13 --13 and bringing a flattened portion of the roll into view through the openings 8 and 9. Motion is transmitted to the rolls in any desired manner, and I have' shown two methods for so doing, one as applied to the movement of the roll B and the other as applied to the movement of the roll C.

Referring now to the first method: A shaft 14 is mounted in the frame 11 on which hangs a yoke 15 on the ends of which are mounted a pair of sprocket wheels 1616 meshing with a gear wheel 17 rigid on the shaft 14. It will be noted that as the yoke is rocked the sprockets 1616 are alternately brought into and out of engagement with the gear wheels 12 and 12 Stops 18-18 are so placed as to limit the movement of the yoke 15. Rigidly mounted on the shaft 14: is a crank 19 terminating in a handle 20. I/Vhen the crank 19- is turned in the direction indicated by the arrows, the yoke 15 springs upwardly until the teeth on the sprocket 16 engage the teeth on the gear 12 the sprocket riding over the gear until the teeth mesh. The stop 18 limits the further upward movement of the yoke 15, and in further revolution of the crank the strip B is unwound from the roller 12* and wound onto the roller 12. When it is desired to reverse, the crank is turned in the opposite direction. This automatically throws the sprocket 16 out of engagement with the gear wheel 12 and brings the sprocket 16 into engagement with the gear 12*. The extreme movement of the yoke 15 is limited in this direction by the stop 18, and the continued revolution of the crank 19 unwinds the roll from the roller 12 onto the roller 12*.

Referring now to the other form of mechanism employed for revolving the rollers, which I have shown applied to the movement of the roll C: In this form a bearing pin 21 is mounted within the frame within the case adjacent to the edge, on which is journaled the lever 22. On the end of this lever is mounted a sprocket wheel 23 adapt ed to engage the teeth of the gear wheels 13 and 13 Mounted on the shaft of the sprocket 23 is a thumb-screw 24: used to actuate the sprocket. The opposite end of the lever 22 is provided with oppositely disposed stops 2525 adapted to limit the eX- treme movement of the lever. Positioned between the two gear wheels 13 and 13 is a segment 26 the teeth 26 of which engage the teeth of the sprocket 23 as it passes from one gear to the other. In the operation of this form of the device, the rotation of the sprocket 23 engaging the gear l3 unwinds the roll from the roller l3 onto the roller 13. When it is desired to reverse the movement, the sprocket 23 is swung outwardly andintermeshes with the gear 13*, any further movement being limited by reason of the stop 25 striking the side of the case. The further rotation of the sprocket 23 while in mesh with the gear l3 unwinds the roll C from the roller 13 onto the roller 13 Of course, it is understood that while I have shown these two methods of operating the rollers as in use in a device, probably only one form will be used in an operative device.

My device is shown in Fig. 1, as used in connection with the interest tables described and claimed in application filed by James J. Fitzgerald of even date herewith, and contemplates the use of two separate strips, one an interest strip or roll B, the figures, words and symbols on which are adapted to be exposed to view, as shown in Fig. 1, when the rollers are operated and the strips B and C moved from one roll to the other.

In the use of my device as an interest calculator in which two strips of material are used on separate sets of rollers, as the strips contain separate and distinct matter they must be operated independently of each other. For instance, referring to Fig. 1, the exposed figures enable one to read at a glance the interest from January 1st to either January 11th, February 11th, March 11th, April 11th, May 11th or June 11th on $5,000 at six per cent. by simply taking the figures appearing in line with the month to which it is desired to obtain the interest; 2'. 6., the interest from January 1st to May 11th would be $10833 the latter amount appearing in line with the month of May. When it is desired to ascertain the interest from any other date than January 1st, or to any other date than the 11th, or at any other rate per cent, or any other amount than $5,000, it

becomes necessary to operate the rollers back and forth in order to expose the proper figures, words and symbols. It is very important, therefore, as the figures and symbols are often small and close together and exposed through a small opening, to have that portion of the strip lying against the top of the device kept tightly stretched between the rollers, as any slipping or sagging of the strip might result in exposing a wrong set of figures and give incorrect readings.

I have produced a device in which, regardless of frequency with which the rollers are reversed, the strips are kept taut thereon. My device is not confined to use with an interest table, but can be used in connection with many other sets of statistics, calendars, etc.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frame, a pair of geared rollers mounted within said frame, material mounted on said rollers, means including a plurality of gears for actuating said rollers, and means whereby the gears of one of said rollers only is in mesh while said material is being wound from either roller to the other, and means for automatically throwing one of said gears out of mesh and the other into mesh when the material is wound in the opposite direction.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frame, a pair of geared rollers mounted within said frame, material mounted on said rollers, means including a plurality of gears for actuating said rollers, and means whereby only the gear on the roller being filled is in mesh during the operation, and means for automatically throwing one of said gears out of mesh and the other into mesh when the material is wound in the opposite direction.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frame, a pair of geared rollers mounted within said frame, material mounted on said rollers, means including a plurality of gears for actuating said rollers, and means whereby only the gear on the roller being filled is in mesh during the op eration regardless of the direction of the revolution, and means for automatically throwing one of said gears out of mesh and the other into mesh when the material is wound in the opposite direction.

4. In a'device of the class described, a frame, a pair of geared rollers mounted within said frame, material mounted on said rollers and adapted to be wound from one to the other, an actuating shaft, means for actuating said shaft, a gear rigid on said shaft, a pair of gears swingingly secured thereto, and means whereby only one of said pair of gears is brought in mesh with the gear of one of the rollers when the operating shaft is rotated in one direction, and means for automatically throwing one of said gears out of mesh and the other into mesh when the material is wound in the opposite direction.

5. In a device of the class described, a frame, a pair of geared rollers mounted within said frame, material mounted on said rollers and adapted to be wound from one to the other, an actuating shaft, means for actuating said shaft, a gear rigid on said shaft, a pair of gears swingingly secured thereto, and means whereby only one of said pair of gears is brought in mesh with the gear of one of the rollers when the operating shaft is rotated in one direction, said means comprising a pair of stops so placed as to limit the extreme movement of said swinging gears, and means for automatically throwing one of said gears out of mesh and the other into mesh when the material is wound in the opposite direction.

6. In a device of the class described, a frame, a pair of geared rollers mounted within said frame, material mounted on said rollers and adapted to be wound from one to the other, an actuating shaft, means for actuating said shaft, a gear rigid on said shaft, a forked arm swingingly mounted on said shaft, a pair of gears mounted 011 the ends of said forked arm, and means whereby only one of said pair of gears is brought in mesh with the gear of one of the rollers when the operating shaft is rotated in one direction, and means for automatically throwing one of said gears out of mesh and the other into mesh when the material is wound in the opposite direction.

7. In a device of the class described, a frame, a pair of geared rollers mounted within said frame, material mounted on said rollers and adapted to be wound from one to the other, an actuating shaft, means for actuating said shaft, a gear rigid on said shaft, a forked arm swingingly mounted on said shaft, a pair of gears mounted on the ends of said forked arm, and means whereby only one of said pair of gears is brought in mesh with the gear of one of the rollers when the operating shaft is rotated in one direction, said means comprising a pair of stops so placed as to limit the extreme swing of said forked arm, and means for automatically throwing one of said gears out of mesh and the other into mesh when the material is wound in the opposite direction.

8. In a device of the class described, a

frame, a pair of geared rollers mounted within said frame, material mounted on said rollers and adapted to be wound from one to the other, an actuating shaft, means for actuating said shaft, a gear rigid on said shaft, a forked arm swingingly mounted on said shaft, a pair of gears mounted on the ends of said forked arm, and means whereby only one of said pair of gears is brought in mesh with the gear of one of the rollers when the operating shaft is rotated in one direction, said means comprising a pair of stops so placed as to limit the extreme swing of said forked arm, and to hold said gear in mesh with the gear on said roller so long as the rotation of the operating shaft is continued in one direction, and means for automatically throwing one of said gears out of mesh and the other into mesh when the material is wound in the opposite direction.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frame, a pair of geared rollers mounted within said frame, adapted to contain material, means including a plurality of gears for actuating said rollers, and means whereby the gears of one of said rollers only is in mesh while the material is being wound from either roller to the other, and means for automatically throwing one of said gears out of mesh and the other into mesh when the material is wound in the opposite direct-ion.

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 23rd day of April, 1910.

DONALD RAWSTRON.

IVitnesses:

J. NORBY, R. SEHWEM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

